


The Whispers Couldn't Save Them....

by SephyAthredon



Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Angst, Death, Gen, Last three characters aren't mentioned much, Scene Rewrite, Self Sacrifice, The Whispers fail, bad burns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:54:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27888613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SephyAthredon/pseuds/SephyAthredon
Summary: The whispers fail to intervene at a key part in the story and the result changes the timeline permanantly.
Relationships: Red XIII | Nanaki & Cloud Strife
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	The Whispers Couldn't Save Them....

It had been an accident. One moment he’d cut the blades off of a helicopter, next the copter’s body was crashing and heading for all of Cloud’s friends, piled in the truck. He heard the tires screech as Tifa frantically tried to drive out of the way. The ensuing explosion made Cloud pull his motorcycle over, a look of horror on his face as he watched the flames rising high.

Acting on pure adrenaline, he dismounted the bike and headed toward the wreck, looking for any signs of life at all. Infantrymen surrounded Cloud immediately, some of them going to put out the fire, because Professor Hojo wanted his experiments to be brought in alive. 

Despite attempts to restrain Cloud, he frantically searched the truck as soon as the fires were put out. His breath hitched in his throat as the first thing he spotted was Barret’s form, covered in burns, hunched in the back of the truck, as if he were trying to shield something. The figure was shifted aside as the burned figure of Red XIII emerged from underneath. He was breathing heavily, eyes wide and frightened as he couldn’t stop staring at what was left of Barret.

“Red…” Even as Cloud tried to get his attention with his name, Red just stared. He could tell the other was in quite a bit of pain from the injuries he was covered in, but it was shock that was the most prominent emotion he felt.

“He… He sacrificed himself… for me…” He barely got the words out through tears. 

“Stay here. I’m going to check on Aerith and Tifa” Cloud responded, patting Red lightly on the head as a gesture of comfort. No doubt he felt the same as Cloud, like falling apart.

The Ex-SOLDIER was stopped as he headed toward the cab of the truck, the smallest bit of Tifa’s form visible from the window. Quiet sobbing could be heard from inside, but a couple of infantrymen kept him from finding answers. He could fight them here and now, but they outnumbered him and if anyone in the cab was still alive, keeping them alive was the first priority.

So Cloud dropped his sword.

“Stop. I surrender. Just let me do this.” Something came to mind then that would surely make them back off, “The Ancient is in there and she could die at any moment, I’m sure professor Hojo wants her alive. Let me do this and you can bring me in.”

The infantryman holding his left arm scoffed before finally letting go, the other doing the same “Okay, but no funny business. Don’t forget, you’re outnumbered.”

Cloud glanced to the back of the truck where Red was being apprehended, he seemed to not put up any resistance as they muzzled him and put a leash on him, though his humiliation was apparent by how low his head was dipped.

After taking a second to do that, Cloud hurried to the cab. “Tifa! Aerith! Are either of you there!?” He didn’t hide the panic in his voice. He looked through the window, only able to catch sight of Tifa’s badly burned face. In his haste, he tore the door off its hinges and didn’t expect that both Tifa and Aerith had been pressed against it. He caught both and lowered them to the ground where he proceeded to check if they were alive.

Only he didn’t need to check for Aerith. Soft sobs tore through her throat and out into the air. She also whispered Tifa’s name to herself in a hoarse voice. Burns covered her body only in certain areas. She didn’t look as bad as Tifa did.

“She’s alive.” He said before moving onto Tifa. She looked very much like she had taken the brunt of the damage, like Barret had. But she had to be alive, didn’t she? Tifa’s strong, stronger than even someone in SOLDIER. She’ll make it.

He didn’t have time to find out, as soon as he confirmed Aerith was alive, Infantrymen started to restrain him.

“No… No! What are you doing!” Cloud thrashed against their hold with as much strength as he could, his eyes didn’t leave Tifa. He didn’t see her move, “Give me a moment to make sure she’s alive. Please! Tifa! TIFA!” The more he struggled, the more he was restrained. Red was still too shell shocked to help. He tried but was met with resistance that only made him hurt more. 

Cloud kept begging and screaming for them to help her, or for them to let him help her even as they got further and further away from the truck. He didn’t even see them take Aerith, he was so focused, so frightened. Eventually he had to be knocked out in order to be properly transported, he was putting up so much resistance. One of them slammed the blunt end of their gun against his head, effectively knocking him out.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He woke up in the Shinra Building, in one of the cells. He recognized the layout from when he had seen Aerith’s cell. He sat up slowly, exhausted from all the struggling. Fresh tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered what happened.

Barret was gone, Tifa was as good as gone, and Aerith had likely been taken back to the Research and Development department where she’d be healed and then kept as a specimen. It was back to square one, but without Barret and Tifa.

A surge of emotion built in Cloud’s chest as he was forced to face the fact that two of the people he cared about most were now dead. His breath hitched in a sob as he covered his face with his hands. 

His senses were suddenly put in high alert as he felt something jump onto the bed that he had been placed in, but he relaxed when he saw red fur. Red XII nuzzled his arm a little.

“Cloud, you okay?” He asked, though his voice was hoarse and shaky.

The Ex-SOLDIER didn’t trust his voice, he didn’t think that he could reply without it cracking on him, so he just shook his head.

“Same here.” Red replied, making himself comfortable next to the man. The last thing the two of them needed was to be alone after surviving something like that. Nothing was said between them for a long while but Cloud felt a little better knowing that someone had survived. Red was the first one to break the silence, “Why… Why do you think Barret saved me.”

Cloud looked away from Red, at the far wall, “I… don’t know exactly, but if I had to guess, he couldn’t save Tifa because he couldn’t reach her in time.” His voice cracked at that and he went silent for a moment before continuing, “So.. I guess he just wanted someone to survive, and the someone that was near him at the time was you.”

“I… I see… I didn’t think he’d do… anything like that… f-for me…” In this moment, Red did not sound ancient. In this moment, he did not sound as old as Cloud had guessed he was, instead he sounded like a scared teenager who had just witnessed something traumatic and was trying to figure out what to do from there.

The only response Cloud gave was to wrap his arms around the other. He was never very big on hugs or touching at all for that matter, but he felt like the both of them needed one at this moment, at least it might make them feel better. 

Red practically melted in Cloud’s hold, leaning heavily on him and practically dissolving in a mess of tears. Nothing was said between them for a long while. Shortly after they broke off the hug, Red was the one that spoke up.

“What are we going to do now, Cloud?”

He took a while to think, to come up with a plan. He shook his head, looking directly at Red.

“It’s like Barret said… ‘there ain’t no stoppin this train we on…..’.”


End file.
